Alfred
Adler, M.D. (1870-1937), a Viennese physician and founder of Adlerian
Psychology, believed that the well-being of families, classrooms, workplaces,
etc., rests on a cornerstone of mutual
respect. Adler was the first in the
fields of psychiatry and psychology to note the importance of our per­ceptionsand socialrela­tionshipsto
our own emotional and physical health and to the health of our families and com­munities.He stressed the cru­cial importance of
nurturing our innate ability to cooperate
as equal human beings and to encourage
ourselves and one another.

Adlerian
Psychology holds that human beings are goal-oriented
and choice-making by nature, not
mechanisti­cally victims of instinct, drives, and environment.As social beings, our basic goal is to
belong.Although hered­ity and
environ­ment have strong influ­ences, to a large extent we make our own choices
of how
to belong.

Adlerian
Psychology has a strong focus on prevention
of mental disturbance and social distress through educa­tion and parenting.Much of Adler’s work was with teachers and
parents who wanted to replace traditional authoritarian styles of relating to
children with more democratic—but not permissive—ways.One of Adlerian Psychology’s claims to fame
is the attribution to Adlerian Psy­chology of the concept that “separate is not
equal” by an author of the social science brief for the US Supreme Court case
on school desegregation. Today, many
schools incorporate Adlerian-based approaches in teacher training and classroom
work, and many par­enting courses throughout the country are Adlerian
based.

Adler’s
concept of Gemeinschaftsgefühl, or a deep sense of fellowship in the human
community and intercon­nectedness with all life, holds that human beings, as
social beings, have a natural desire to contribute usefully for the good of
humanity.According to Adler, a desire
for social significance must focus on contribution, not on status-seeking, or
one’s social relationships and one’s mental health will suffer.

Adlerian
Psychology is perhaps best known for the concept of the inferiority complex.Adler
viewed some behavior as overcompensation
for perceived shortcomings.We sometimes make choices about how to belong
on the basis of an often mistaken feeling of inferiority.Children, for example, sometimes seem to
believe, mis­takenly and not consciously, that they belong only when they are
the center of atten­tion.Some adults
act as if they believe,mistakenly, that
they belong only when they can control oth­ers, or take revenge on others, or
withdraw from others (and often such misperceptions develop in early
childhood).

Both
the inferiority complex and overcompensation indicated to Adler an exaggerated concern with self.This self-concern could be eased by nurturing
one’s innate abilities to cooperate and
contribute through what Adler called the life tasks:work, intimacy, and friendship.Adlerian therapy helps to “liberate” clients
by helping them move toward a clearer understanding of their unconscious,
inferiority-based belief systems, or “life-styles,”
and toward a clearer understanding of ways to incorporate cooperation and
contribution and mutual respect in their relationships.Adleri­ans hope to let go of “private logic”
and em­brace dignity and respect in all relation­ships, thereby becoming emo­tionally
and physically healthier and creating a more democratic culture.